They escape from the house on the pretext of a walk. They keep up the act of normality for a few minutes, both hyper aware of Lydia watching shamelessly from the front porch. Their clasped hands vibrate with the need to run and jump and stretch their confined muscles. The strain of being human has taken its toll and now they are barely capable of keeping the energy in. Both had forgotten, used as they are to a lot of exercise, how difficult it would be to remain still. They hadn't gone out the night before they'd left and then they'd been trapped in the car for the journey. The need to run outweighed any worry that they might be seen so that as they rounded the corner they began to run, Will taking two heavy strides to each of Lizzie's graceful leaps. They come to a park and without speaking they cross the road to enter and take advantage of the more open space. They do not speak, enjoying the calm of the evening and the opportunity to escape the real world for a while. Will laughs as Lizzie begins to twist and turn, weaving through a few trees and leaping to grab branches and swing, purely, he thinks, because she can. She is a child in that moment, relishing her strength and agility, spinning through the air as he runs at her side. Where she is speed and agility, he is strength and stamina. He thinks that they make a good team, their strengths and weaknesses complementing each other.
He loves seeing her enjoy her abilities when he knows that for so long she had hidden them.
He loves that he knows that about her.
He loves her.
This sudden realisation, coming to him in the meditation of a slow jog, ruins the rhythm of his breathing completely and he finds himself with a stitch. He falters and comes to a stop, watching her bound joyfully away as she did that first night on the rooftop.
Walking back, the edge taken off their energy, he ponders this new information. In the back of his mind, he knew he loved her but it hadn't come to his attention quite until this moment. Now he was aware of it, he could feel emotion bubbling up inside him just watching her skip along beside her. He knew that a touch of her hand was enough to get his heart racing but until now he'd been unaware of it being any more than attraction. He loved her. He sighed, now all he had to do was tell her.
She could tell he was thinking about something. He'd got that pensive over-thinking face on and she just knew that it would be impossible to get him to tell her unless he was completely comfortable and sure they weren't going to be interrupted. It was going to take some manoeuvring but she was fairly sure that Jane and Lydia both owed her favours. As they entered the house, she sent Will upstairs to shower and went in search of her sisters. She needed to be safe from parental and sibling interruptions for the rest of the evening it she was going to find out what was going on behind Will's famously guarded expression.
